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Brendel: Piano SonataRating:
Release Date: 08 July, 2003 Retail Price: $24.98 OUR Price: $21.99 You SAVE: $2.99! Cast: |
Brendel: Piano Sonata Reviews
Alfred Brendel - The Beethoven Sonata No29 - Hammerklavier
This was the first Classical DVD I ever bought. When I bought the DVD, I had never heard this sonata before. The first movement of the Hammerklavier Sonata is my favourite on the DVD. I like it musically because it is a lively piece and Alfred's facial expressions during this piece are amusing also. This is so because there is humour involved in this piece. I think that was something that Beethoven had written into the piece.
Julius Katchen is also very good, playing the "Wanderer" Fantasy in C. I really enjoyed this, especially the first movement. Equally as enjoyable as Alfred Brendel's performance.
I would recommend this DVD to music lovers everywhere.
Kevin Anderson
As a whole, even better than "Alfred Brendel In Portrait"
Filmed some 30 years ago, the picture and sound are not the best one would like to have. But they are not too bad either or even quite acceptable. It's in decent colour and the sound is more than sufficient to carry all the meaning of the notes to say the least. But the running time is rather short, about the same as any CD and no more.
It strikes one that the appearance of Brendel isn't much different from "In Portrait" filmed some 30 years later save that in the more recent one, he had some six fingertips in bandage whereas in the earlier one only 4 -- but the sound of the latter is most wonderful. But as far as his playing is concerned, I rather prefer the younger Brendel: so much more spontaneous in the sense that the binding of phrase to phrase is so natural, and each note seems to carry a meaning of its own and not at all at the expense of the full drama or the forcefulness of the whole piece -- save a few bars in the slow movement of Hammerclavier where the sense of structure is not equally convincing. His Bagatelles is appealing too.
We also have a bonus footage of Julius Katchen. He had the most pliant and most supple (and hairy ) hands on DVD , even more so than Arrau. As far as his fingers are concerned, one might even compare them to those of Horowitz's. Yet the sound and picture is just barely acceptable as a result, I enjoy his Brahms violin sonata with SuK more. It's a shame that EMI didn't reditalize it before release.
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